MLB REPORT: Cards outduel Bucs

Friday

ST. LOUIS (TNS) — Yairo Munoz hit a walk-off three-run homer as the Cardinals scored five runs in the ninth inning to pull out a 10-8 win over the Pirates on a bizarre Thursday night at Busch Stadium.

The Cardinals went into the ninth down 8-5 and sent five hitters to the plate against Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez, and all of them scored.

Harrison Bader led off with a double to left, followed by Tommy Pham reaching on an error by third baseman Sean Rodriguez. Marcell Ozuna walked to load the bases and pinch hitter Luke Voit, just up from Memphis, singled to left to drive in two runs, making it 8-7. On the first pitch to Munoz, he hit his second home run of the season, landing it on the lawn above center field. It was the sixth walkoff win for the Cardinals this season.

It was a sudden reversal for the Cardinals, who looked as if they were going to lose a game they had led 4-0 and 5-4. Starter Jack Flaherty couldn’t hold on to a 4-0 lead and then the Cardinals bullpen couldn’t protect a 5-4 lead.

It looked like the crushing blow would be a three-run homer by Pittsburgh’s Francisco Cervelli off reliever Bud Norris in the eighth. Norris was tasked with getting the final four outs after Jordan Hicks had gotten out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh but got into trouble in the eighth, letting the game get tied on an RBI double by Gregory Polanco. The Pirates had runners on second and third with two out when Mike Matheny brought in Norris, who gave up a home run that just cleared the wall in left field.

The Cardinals scored four times in the first inning, but couldn’t hold the lead as the Pirates tied the game in the fifth on a two-run homer by Josh Bell. The Cardinals came back to retake the lead in the bottom of the inning on a one-out double by Dexter Fowler and a two-out single by Greg Garcia.

Flaherty went only five innings, allowing four runs while striking out five and walking none. That meant four innings for the bullpen to cover, which hasn’t always been the safest proposition. The bridge to Norris was Tyler Lyons (2/3 of an inning), John Brebbia (2/3) and Hicks (1 1/3). After Norris gave up the home run, Mike Mayers, just back from Memphis, was called on to close things out and ended up getting the win.

The Cardinals had five of their first six hitters reach base as they scored four runs in the first. Munoz drove in two with a bases-loaded double over third base and into the left-field corner that made it 4-0. After that, the Cardinals got a runner on in each of the next three innings, but couldn’t add to their lead.

The Pirates looked as if they would push ahead in the seventh when Francisco Cervelli and Starling Marte singled off Brebbia. Hicks came on and walked Bell to load the bases before getting Corey Dickerson to hit a grounder for a 6-4-3 double play.

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Seattle mulches Rangers

SEATTLE—This time there were no bullpen implosions or late-inning drama. The Seattle Mariners did something that has been rare the past few weeks — they beat a team by a comfortable margin.

Seattle got a solid if not lengthy start from left-hander Wade LeBlanc and provided plenty of run support, highlighted by Nelson Cruz’s two-run homer in the third inning, to roll to a comfortable 6-1 victory Thursday over the Texas Rangers at Safeco Field.

More importantly, a bullpen that had been beat up the previous two days returned to form. James Pazos, Juan Nicasio and Chasen Bradford worked the final four innings without allowing a run, while giving an extra day of rest to Alex Colome and closer Edwin Diaz.

The victory improved the Mariners’ record to 34-22 and salvaged a split of the four-game series with the worst team in the American League West.

Seattle jumped on Rangers starter Mike Minor immediately. Activated from the disabled list earlier in the day, Dee Gordon made his presence known quickly, tripling to left field to start the bottom of the first. He scored moments later on Jean Segura’s sacrifice fly to right.

But this wasn’t an ordinary and boring sac fly. The ball was hit to shallow right field into a place where normal base runners wouldn’t attempt to tag up and try to score. Heck, even a player who considers himself fast probably wouldn’t try it. But Gordon? He never hesitated. He sprinted home, and though Nomar Mazara’s throw from right field appeared to beat him, Gordon made a nifty headfirst slide and avoided the tag of catcher Robinson Chirinos for the first run of the game.

Gordon’s presence at the top of the lineup and his ability to create chaos and havoc on the bases was missed during his absence. His return is sure to help an offense that had scored four or more runs just three times in his nine-game absence.

The return to form of Cruz also will do wonders for an offense that is missing the suspended Robinson Cano more than people understand. Cruz’s homer was his third in his past six games. He finally looks to be healthy at the plate. There’s no more nagging foot pain or aching elbow.

Perhaps it’s a function of how antiquated and misleading the win stat is because LeBlanc, now 1-0, has had much better statistical outings in prior starts. But he was good enough to pitch five innings, allowing just one run on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts to earn his first victory of the season.

His only trouble came in the fourth inning. Given a 3-0 lead, he served up a leadoff homer to Mazara to dead center. He later loaded the bases with two outs, but managed to get Ronald Guzman to hit a weak ground ball to first base to end the drama and limit the damage to just the one run.

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Phillies nudge Dodgers

LOS ANGELES—Clayton Kershaw’s highly anticipated return to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ rotation may be more of a cameo appearance.

The ace left Thursday’s 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies after throwing 62 pitches over five ho-hum but effective innings because of tightness in his troublesome lower back, an injury that further clouds the future of one of baseball’s best pitchers and the playoff hopes of the team that employs him.

Kershaw, who sat out the past month because of biceps tendinitis, did not fly with the Dodgers to Colorado on Thursday night. He will undergo an MRI test Friday, and the chances of the left-hander returning to the disabled list appear high.

“With Clayton’s history, there’s obviously some concern,” manager Dave Roberts said. “You want to make sure he’s well and good, so we’re gonna dig into it, see if there’s anything to it … but right now, we don’t know.”

Kershaw, 30, missed 10 weeks of the 2016 season because of a herniated disk in his lower back and five weeks of 2017 because of a lower-back strain, returning to pitch in the playoffs both years.

“The 2016 injury is entirely different — I think that was very, very severe,” said Kershaw, a three-time Cy Young Award winner. “If I could compare it to anything it would be to last year. It might not be that bad. I don’t know right now. It’s just tightness. That’s the best way I can describe it.”

It was a dismal all-around day for the Dodgers, who failed to notice that Maikel Franco did not touch home plate while scoring on Jorge Alfaro’s second-inning single, an oversight that cost them a run, and saw right fielder Yasiel Puig lose Alfaro’s seventh-inning RBI double to right-center in the twilight.

Although Kershaw gave up one run and four hits in five innings, striking out five and walking one, his fastball velocity dipped from 90-mph in the first inning to 87-88 mph by the fourth.

He averaged 91.1 mph in his first seven starts this season and 93.1 mph over his 11-year career, according to Fangraphs.

“Everything ticked down a little bit,” Roberts said. “When you look at 90 mph early and then you see it [dip] as game progresses … in that fourth and fifth inning, that’s when it really showed itself.”

Kershaw, who did not make a minor league rehab start, said his shoulder felt fine. His mechanics were so sound that catcher Yasmani Grandal couldn’t even tell Kershaw was hurting.

“Usually when things go bad, you see the delivery getting out of whack,” Grandal said, “but not at any point did I see that.”

Kershaw needed 26 pitches to complete his final three scoreless innings, and he struck out the side — Alfaro looking at a slider, pitcher Aaron Nola swinging at a slider and Cesar Hernandez swinging at a changeup — in the fifth.

Asked if he leaned heavily on off-speed pitches because Kershaw’s fastball lacked life, Grandal said, “There were a lot of fastballs. Just because it says slider on the scoreboard, it doesn’t mean we weren’t throwing fastballs.”

The Phillies nicked Kershaw for a run in the second when Franco walked, Nick Williams singled and Alfaro hit two-out single to center.

Center fielder Cody Bellinger made a strong one-hop throw home, but Grandal dropped the ball as he tried to swipe a tag on Franco, who, instead of sliding, tried to tap the plate with his left foot.

Umpire Will Little ruled Franco safe. Replays showed Franco missed the plate completely, but the Dodgers did not challenge the play.

“I asked the umpire if he tagged the plate and he said, ‘Yeah,’” Grandal said. “Nobody screamed at me, so … if he calls him safe and he’s telling me he tagged the plate, there’s no reason to go tag him.”

Was it video replay coordinator John Pratt’s responsibility to notify the dugout?

“I missed it — it’s all on us,” Roberts said. “I saw safe call. There was no awkward reach of the runner, so we didn’t appeal it.”

Franco knew he missed the plate, but his snap decision to act as if he touched it probably saved the Phillies a run.

“If I try to go right back, I’m probably going to be out, so I walked to the dugout to see what would happen,” Franco said. “A couple guys asked me right away, ‘Did you touch home plate?’ I was like, ‘No.’

“They usually call the video guy right away, so I was a little surprised. I sat down and I was like, ‘They’re not showing that play?’ And when that happened, I was like, ‘We got that run.’ Crazy.”

The Dodgers tied it in the fifth when Puig doubled to left and scored on Enrique Hernandez’s single to right.

Pedro Baez replaced Kershaw and struck out the side in the sixth, but Josh Fields gave up a two-out single to Scott Kingery and Alfaro’s RBI double for a 2-1 Phillies lead in the seventh. Puig got a terrible jump on the decisive hit, for good reason.

“I don’t think he saw the ball off the bat,” Roberts said. “Sometimes in this park, the shadows can come in.”

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Padres sink Marlins

SAN DIEGO —Air was leaking from Wei-Yin Chen’s balloon.

Or at least that’s how Don Mattingly apparently saw things Thursday when he lifted Chen only 47 pitches into a short-lived outing that culminated in the Miami Marlins’ third straight loss, an 8-3 defeat to the San Diego Padres.

When Chen ran into trouble in the second inning, Mattingly wasted no time going out to get his pitcher, something he’s said he’s more prone to do with Chen than he is with his other starters. Mattingly said earlier this month when the spots the air leaking from Chen’s balloon, “it comes out fast.”

Mattingly decided rather than to wait for it to fully deflate, it was time to take him out.

For Chen, who has been pitching better of late, it was a better night for him at the plate than it was on the mound. While he drove in the first runs of his career, it was a different story for him throwing the baseball.

While there was nothing noticeably amiss with Chen physically or his fastball velocity, Mattingly apparently figured the pitcher had hit a wall.

After giving up a two-run homer in the first to Christian Villanueva, Chen ran into trouble again in the second. He issued a pair of two-out walks, including one to Padres pitcher Jordan Lyles. Eric Hosmer made him pay for those with a two-run double that put the Padres on top for good. Chen didn’t throw another pitch after that as Mattingly handed the ball over to Odrisamer Despaigne.

Chen did manage, however, to drive in a pair of runs with a two-out single off Lyles in the first. But those were of small consolation given the brevity of his outing.

Despaigne worked 4 1/3 innings of relief, allowing three runs in the fifth as the Padres stretched their lead.

Scoring wise, it was another quiet night offensively for the Marlins, who won the first game of the series before losing three straight to the last-place Padres. Derek Dietrich belted a solo homer in the eighth and the Marlins matched the Padres in hits with 10. But the Padres put theirs to better use.

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Indians add to Twins’ woes

MINNEAPOLIS — Twins manager Paul Molitor has become a little miffed by mistakes his team has made in recent days. It has been a factor in them losing six of their past seven games before Thursday.

As a result, he gathered the team at second base before Thursday’s first game of an 11-game homestand to go over some baserunning gaffes. The bigger message was that they need to clean up their game, baserunning, defense, situational hitting. Everything.

“No excuses,” Molitor said before the game. “There’s no sympathy being thrown our way. You’ve got to go out and try to find a way to play better. That’s one thing I can emphatically say, that we haven’t played well enough to win. We’ve kind of gotten what we’ve deserved in a lot of these games.”

So much for the pregame talk, as the Twins botched a few plays early while Cleveland took an 8-0 lead.

Then the Twins woke up to tie the score … only to surrender the lead again in the eighth inning on Francisco Lindor’s second home run of the game. Cleveland finished off a 9-8 victory to take a 6 {-game lead in the AL Central over the Twins.

The Twins scored two runs in the fifth, two in the sixth and four in the seventh to tie the score. It was the second night in a row the Twins scored eight runs after falling behind by at least eight.

And it came against a Cleveland bullpen that is not the pillar of strength it was a year ago.

But Lindor untied it with a home run to center against Addison Reed with two out in the eighth. It was the fourth home run Reed has given up this season, and all four have led directly to a Twins loss.

The go-ahead homer also was Lindor’s fourth extra-base hit of the night. He started the night with two doubles off Jake Odorizzi.

Back-to-back singles by Robbie Grossman and Ryan LaMarre in the fifth inning produced two runs for the Twins. Back-to-back home runs by Logan Morrison and Eduardo Escobar in the sixth made it 8-4 and turned the boos into cheers.

Then the Twins got an RBI single in the seventh by Eddie Rosario to put two on for Miguel Sano. Indians manager Terry Francona countered with Zack McAllister.

McAllister’s 0-1 pitch broke back in over the plate, and Sano powered it into the seats in right for a three-run homer to tie the game at 8.

—Brian Dozier — and a Gold Glove winner at second base last year — dropping a routine pop fly to short right field.

—Catcher Mitch Garver fumbling a throw from the outfield that would have nabbed Edwin Encarnacion at home plate.

—Rosario getting picked off of first base, following a strikeout by Sano.

—And right-hander Jake Odorizzi putting the Twins in an 8-0 hole while being knocked out of the game in the fourth inning. His 3 2/3-inning outing was his shortest of the season.

Meanwhile, some kid with a rock star’s name shut the Twins down for nearly five innings in an attempt to win in his major league debut. Right-hander Shane Bieber faced the minimum through three innings.

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(c)2018 Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

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PHOTOS (for help with images, contact 312-222-4194):

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

ATLANTA — The Braves enjoyed first place in the National League East for 27 days in a 28-day stretch before losing to the Mets on Wednesday and seeing the perennial division-leading Nationals move atop the standings.

Then the Nationals came to Atlanta for a four-game series that started Thursday night and the Braves took back the division lead with a 4-2 win at SunTrust Park, getting another strong performance from starter Sean Newcomb and not waiting until the late innings to score some runs.

The Braves (33-23) scored two runs in the second and took the lead for good with a run in the third on hits by Ozzie Albies and Freddie Freeman against Nationals starter Tanner Roark, who allowed more than three runs for only the second time in his past 13 starts against Atlanta.

They moved a half-game ahead of the Nationals (32-23).

The game began inauspiciously for Newcomb (6-1), who threw seven balls before throwing a strike and walked the first two batters, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper. After a double-steal, Anthony Rendon’s sacrifice fly gave the Nationals a quick 1-0 lead.

But after those two opening walks, Newcomb retired six of the next seven batters and 21 of the last 25 he faced. The big left-hander allowed four hits, two runs and two walks with two strikeouts in seven innings, improving to 6-0 with a 2.16 ERA in 10 starts since losing to the Nationals in his season debut.

The Braves scored twice in the second inning to take a 2-1 lead. They got doubles from Nick Markakis and Preston Tucker (RBI), two walks and a run-scoring ground-out by Newcomb, who hustled to beat the relay throw to first base and avoid a would-be inning-ending double play.

Roark, who had issued just eight walks in his previous six starts, walked four in the first five innings Thursday and finished with five walks (two intentional) to go with seven hits and four runs allowed in 6 2/3 innings.

After the Nationals scored a trying run in the third on a pair of singles, the Braves took the lead for good, 3-2, in the bottom of the inning when Albies hit a leadoff single and scored when Freeman doubled to right field and Harper’s throw skipped off the defender’s glove at second base as he tried to throw out Freeman.

Newcomb’s only previous start against the Nationals was April 2, when he gave up five hits including a Harper homer, six runs (five earned) and four walks in 4 1/3 innings of an 8-1 loss. He’s allowed only two homers in 10 starts since then and beat the Nationals to win his fifth decision in his past six starts.

Newcomb was 4-0 with a 0.36 ERA in a torrid four-start stretch in which he allowed just one run in 25 innings before his last start Saturday at Boston, where he gave up six hits, three runs and four walks in just three innings in a loss to the Red Sox in his first game at Fenway Park, the ballpark he went to frequently as a kid growing up in nearby Middleboro, Mass.

But any thoughts of a hangover from that homecoming carrying over into Thursday ended after he got through that first inning. Newcomb gave up a tying run in the third on a pair of singles, but beginning with Mark Reynolds’ pop-out for the second out of the third inning he retired 14 of the last 15 batters he faced, with only Rendon’s leadoff double in the sixth inning breaking up that sequence.

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(c)2018 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, Ga.)

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Chicago Tribune

NEW YORK — Jason Heyward’s six hits in his past two games earned him the second spot in the Cubs’ lineup Thursday night against the Mets in the first game of a four-game series at Citi Field.

Heyward went 2-for-5 with two singles and an RBI grounder, but Ben Zobrist sparked the offense with three hits — including a two-run home run in the fifth inning off reliever Hansel Robles as the Cubs coasted to a 5-1 win at foggy Citi Field.

Heyward had not batted second since the 2016 season, when he hit .240 with four home runs and 26 RBIs in that spot in his first season with the Cubs.

The Cubs added another run in the top of the sixth with two out when Javier Baez hit a double and scored on a single by Kyle Schwarber.

Left-hander Jose Quintana, who lasted 4 1/3 innings in his last start against the Giants, pitched six innings of three-hit ball. Quintana ran into trouble in the third when he walked opposing starting pitcher Seth Lugo with one out and later walked Asdrubal Cabrera to load the bases. But Quintana struck out Jose Bautista and induced Michael Conforto to ground to first.

The Cubs kept the Mets scoreless until Brandon Nimmo smacked a home run off Brian Duensing with two out in the eighth.

Baez drew a walk in the ninth — his first walk since April 11 and his first unintentional walk since April 7 — a span of 183 at-bats.

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(c)2018 Chicago Tribune

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Los Angeles Times

DETROIT — He was battered early and, although never actually knocked out, Andrew Heaney certainly was knocked around.

Afterward, after the Angels lost to Detroit, 6-2, on Thursday, after a first inning that looked more like a first round, the left-hander fittingly likened the experience to a fight.

“They came out, punched me right in the mouth,” Heaney said of the Tigers. “Took me a bit to kind of regain and start making some better pitches.”

But by then, it was too late, much too late on a day when the Angels’ offense went one for seven with runners in scoring position and three for 16 with men on base.

Heaney had produced quality starts in each of his past five outings and hadn’t allowed more than two runs in a game since April 20. His earned-run average during the latter stretch: 1.45.

After he retired Detroit’s first hitter of the afternoon, he yielded back-to-back doubles to bring home a run. Then Heaney got James McCann to ground out, giving himself a chance to minimize the damage.

Instead, the Tigers maximized the opportunity when their next four hitters reached base, including Victor Reyes, who had a three-run triple to make it 5-0.

“Just didn’t make some good pitches,” Heaney said. “It just happens.”

Suddenly, in the span of four innings going back to Wednesday, the Angels had allowed Detroit two five-run rallies, which had everything to do with losing just their second road series of the season.

Unfortunately for the Angels, those two series have been their past two series, here and in New York. Overall, they’ve lost four of five to fall to 30-27, the first time they’ve been as few as three games over .500 since April 7.

After that laborious 28-pitch first inning, Heaney started the second by engaging in a 13-pitch battle with Niko Goodrum. The at-bat ended in a walk.

Four pitches later, Nicholas Castellanos singled, pushing Heaney’s count to 45 and still he had retired only three batters.

From there, however, he rallied to pitch through the fifth inning, no small accomplishment in this era of bullpen preservation.

“They know I’m going to attack the strike zone,” Heaney said. “I kind of had to make an adjustment a little bit. It was a little too late. When you give up five runs that quick, it kind of pretty much puts the game out of hand.”

That’s especially true when the offense fizzles. The Angels failed to score in the third when two of their best hitters — Mike Trout and Justin Upton — went down consecutively with two runners on.

They failed to score again in the fourth when three of their other hitters — Jefry Marte, Chris Young and Kole Calhoun — went down consecutively with two runners on.

So, there was plenty of failure to go around as the Angels’ only runs were provided by rookie catcher Jose Briceno, who hit his second career homer in his second career start, and Trout, who had an RBI single in the eighth.

Upton, a former Tiger who received an award before the game Monday for his contributions to the team last season, finished the series one for 16.

“Even the best of hitters at times just aren’t squaring balls up like they can,” Angels manger Mike Scioscia said. “He’s right now in a little bit of a rut. But he’ll work his way through it. He’s too good of a talent.”

Want something positive? Ian Kinsler, another former Tiger, arrived Monday batting .178 for the season. Nine hits later, he left with his average at .217.

The Angels finished this 10-game trip 4-6 and now return home to face a Texas team they swept on the road in April in three games. By the score of 26-6.

They could use something to lighten the mood. The Rangers will start Bartolo Colon on Friday against Jaime Barria, who was just short of 9 months old when Colon debuted in the big leagues.

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(c)2018 Los Angeles Times

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The Mercury News

OAKLAND, Calif. — Khris Davis was back, and so were the A’s.

After stumbling through nine games of the homestand with Davis on the disabled list, the A’s designated hitter doubled on the second pitch he saw to ignite a three-run rally in the second inning.

Davis’ teammates on offense and May sensation Daniel Mengden did the rest in a 7-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays before a crowd of 12,070 at the Coliseum.

“I don’t think that’s a coincidence at all,” A’s shortstop Chad Pinder said. “He’s got that much influence in the lineup. It changes how other teams go about pitching us. The guy’s proven to be our best run producer and having him in the lineup gives people a sign of relief.”

Davis narrowly missed a home run leading off the second inning, driving a 1-0 pitch from starter Ryne Stanek off the top of the wall in right center. By the time the inning was over, Stephen Piscotty had doubled home two runs and Mark Canha singled in another.

By the time the game was over, all three Matts in the starting lineup — Olson in the seventh, Chapman in the seventh and Joyce in the eighth — had homered to give the A’s a 7-0 lead.

All that was left was to see if Mengden (6-4) could pitch his second consecutive shutout. It wasn’t to be, as the Rays opened the ninth with three straight hits and ended up scoring three times — all charged to Mengden.

That didn’t dilute the feeling in the A’s clubhouse as they finished a 4-6 homestand and embarked on a five-game road trip to Kansas City and Texas with a 29-28 record and the knowledge that their most intimidating power hitter was back.

Since the start of the 2016 season, Davis’ has 98 home runs, the most in the Major Leagues and one ahead of the Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton.

“There’s certain guys that are more impactful than others,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “They lengthen the lineup for you. He had a big effect on the game today and certainly to get a hit your first time up makes you feel good. After 10 days off you can feel a little rusty, but that wasn’t the case.”

Davis, who strained a hamstring on a swing against Toronto on May 20, admitted to some rust after watching the A’s hit just .155 in his absence over nine games.

“The speed of the game is not there yet,” Davis said. “I need some time to get in shape, but I feel pretty good.”

Davis said he was more concerned about swinging the bat than running since he’d been injured on a swing, and that watching the last nine games has been difficult.

“It was frustrating because I don’t want to be on the D.L. and want to contribute,” Davis said. “It was a tough stretch. Ten days doesn’t seem like a long time, but it went by kind of slow.”

Mengden said he could feel the difference the moment Davis’ connected for his double.

“If you look at our offense, it’s totally different when we have K.D. in the lineup,” Mengden said. “He’s a monster in there and you know guys fear him. I know our offense has been struggling a little bit, but getting K.D. back was a huge boost for our team moving forward.”

Mengden was to the Athletics in May what Sean Manaea was to the starting rotation in April.

The right-hander with the handlebar mustache and old-fashioned crank windup was coming off a two-hit shutout of the Arizona Diamondbacks and had 25 scoreless innings until the Rays broke through in the ninth. It was the longest scoreless streak by an A’s pitcher since reliever Sean Doolittle had a 26 1/3 inning streak in 2014 and the longest for a starter since Cory Lidle had 32 consecutive scoreless innings in 2002.

In May, Mengden was 4-1 with a 1.67 earned run average — the first time in his career he’s won four straight starts. He credited the work of catchers Bruce Maxwell, who caught Thursday, and Jonathan Lucroy.

“(We’ve) been working on establishing all four pitches, mixing it up and down, making sure we’re not being predictable,” Mengden said. “And the defense has been incredible behind me in the last couple of starts.”

Melvin said Mengden’s command and mixing of a fastball, slider, curveball and change-up make it difficult for hitters to guess correctly.

“When you have four pitches it’s tough for hitters to think along with you,” Melvin said. “And he uses all those four pitches.”

The Athletics played errorless ball after making four errors Wednesday night. Blake Treinen, who came in for Josh Lucas with two in the ninth, got his 13th save on a single pitch — a sky pop to short center that shortstop Chad Pinder bobbled with his glove and then caught bare-handed with his back to the plate for the final out.

Pinder had two errors Wednesday night filling in for Marcus Semien, who will return Saturday after a paternity leave. He played flawlessly Thursday, including getting the first two ground balls of the game and also turning a double play.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t lay in bed a little bit and run through the plays in my mind,” Pinder said of Wednesday night’s miscues. “Once I woke up this morning, I was over it. I knew I was going to be back out there, took ground balls and did my routine as if I’ve been playing short all year.”

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(c)2018 The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)

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